U.S. patent application number 09/767361 was filed with the patent office on 2002-07-25 for palm-sized handheld device with inverted ergonomic keypad.
Invention is credited to Engstrom, Eric.
Application Number | 20020097553 09/767361 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25079244 |
Filed Date | 2002-07-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020097553 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Engstrom, Eric |
July 25, 2002 |
Palm-sized handheld device with inverted ergonomic keypad
Abstract
A palm-sized handheld device includes a body casing having a top
end and a bottom end. In accordance with one embodiment of the
invention, the device also includes a display screen proximately
disposed near the bottom end of the device, and a plurality of
input keys proximately disposed near said top end of the device
above the input display screen. As a result of such a
configuration, accessibility to the input keys by users' thumbs is
improved while glare from a bright light source on the display
screen may be decreased.
Inventors: |
Engstrom, Eric; (Kirkland,
WA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
COLUMBIA IP LAW GROUP, PC
10260 SW GREENBURG ROAD
SUITE 820
PORTLAND
OR
97223
US
|
Family ID: |
25079244 |
Appl. No.: |
09/767361 |
Filed: |
January 22, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
361/679.56 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 1/1618 20130101;
G06F 1/1664 20130101; G06F 1/1626 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
361/683 ;
361/680 |
International
Class: |
G06F 001/16 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A personal digital assistant comprising: a body casing having a
top end and a bottom end; a display screen proximately disposed
near said bottom end; and a plurality of input keys proximately
disposed near said top end above said input display screen.
2. The personal digital assistant of claim 1, wherein said display
screen is substantially rectangular in shape having a top edge, a
bottom edge displosed below said top edge, a left side and a right
side, and wherein at least a subset of said plurality of input keys
are ergonomically disposed above said top edge of said display
screen to form an angle that measures approximately 45 degrees with
respect to at least one of said top edge and said bottom edge of
said display screen.
3. The personal digital assistant of claim 1, wherein said
plurality of input keys further comprises a first set of input keys
situated in a first concentric arrangement above said display
screen and a second set of input keys situated in a second
concentric arrangement above said display screen.
4. The personal digital assistant of claim 1, wherein said body
casing further comprises a left side to the left of said display
screen between said top end and said bottom end, and a right side
opposite said left side and to the right of said display screen
between said top end and said bottom end, and wherein said first
set of keys are further situated near said left side of said body
casing to facilitate ergonomic access by a left thumb and said
second set of keys are situated near said right side of said body
casing to facilitate ergonomic access by a right thumb.
5. The personal digital assistant of claim 4, wherein said top and
bottom ends each having dimensions of approximately 3.5 inches and
said left and right sides each having dimensions of approximately
2.5 inches.
6. The personal digital assistant of claim 1, further comprising a
finger mouse.
7. The personal digital assistant of claim 6, wherein said body
casing further comprises a mouse button proximately disposed above
said display screen and situated at least partially between at
least a subset of said first set of input keys and said left side
or partially between at least a subset of said second set of input
keys and said right side.
8. The personal digital assistant of claim 6, wherein said finger
mouse further comprises at least one of a trackball and a
track-wheel.
9. A personal digital assistant comprising: an upper body portion
having an outer top end, an inner bottom end and a plurality of
input keys disposed between said outer top end and said inner
bottom end; and a lower body portion having an inner top end, an
outer bottom end, and a display screen disposed between said inner
top end and said outer bottom end, wherein said lower body portion
is attached at said inner top end to said upper body portion at
said inner bottom end.
10. The personal digital assistant of claim 9, wherein said lower
body portion is hingedly coupled to said upper body portion to
facilitate movement of said outer top end towards and away from
said outer bottom end.
11. The personal digital assistant of claim 10, wherein when the
outer top end is moved away from the outer bottom end such that the
upper body portion and the lower body portion lie substantially
within the same plane, the dimensions of the combined upper and
lower body portions approximate that of a handheld device.
12. A wireless pager comprising: a body casing having a top end and
a bottom end; at least one input key proximately disposed near said
top end; and a display screen proximately disposed near said bottom
end below said at least one input key.
13. The wireless pager of claim 12, wherein said at least one input
key comprises a plurality of input keys.
14. The wireless pager of claim 12, wherein said at least one input
key includes a touch pad.
15. The wireless pager of claim 12, wherein said body casing
further comprises a left side to the left of said display screen
between said top end and said bottom end, and a right side opposite
said left side and to the right of said display screen between said
top end and said bottom end, and wherein said first set of keys are
further situated near said left side of said body casing to
facilitate ergonomic access by a left thumb and said second set of
keys are situated near said right side of said body casing to
facilitate ergonomic access by a right thumb.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to the field of handheld
digital devices. More specifically, the present invention relates
to the placement of data entry keys with respect to the display
within each of these devices.
[0003] 2. Background Information
[0004] Advances in computer and telecommunication technology have
led to the wide spread adoption and miniaturization of electronic
organization and communication devices, such as personal digital
assistants (PDAs) and wireless pagers. Although smaller versions of
such devices allow increased portability, the reduction in size is
typically accompanied by awkward keypad positioning thereby
hindering one's ease of use and possibly causing discomfort to the
user.
[0005] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary prior art PDA. As
illustrated, prior art PDA 100 typically includes body-casing 116
with top end 118A, bottom end 118B, left side 119A and right side
119B, as well as keypad 102, disposed near bottom end 118B. Keypad
102 represents a set of small, fingertip-sized data entry keys
configured in a standard "QWERTY" arrangement to facilitate a user
in providing numeric and/or alphanumeric input into PDA 100. Keypad
102 further includes function keys 120-121, which are linked to
pre-programmed functions such as character mode and/or operating
mode switching activated by the press of the appropriate function
keys 120-121 by a user.
[0006] PDA 100 further includes display screen 108, which is
disposed near top end 118A above keypad 102, and is used to echo
numeric or alphanumeric inputs entered by a user, as well as to
display various graphical and/or alphanumeric messages, menu
options, control information, status information, and so forth. For
example, display screen 108 is illustrated as displaying graphical
icons 110-114, and date and time information 104.
[0007] Although the physical size of body casing 116 may vary, PDA
100 is typically palm-sized so as to fit within the palm of an
average user's hand. During normal use, by virtue of its
configuration with keypad 102 disposed near bottom end 118B and
display screen 108 disposed near top end 118A above keypad 102, a
user will typically rest body casing 116 on one or both of their
index fingers formed into an arch with at least one of the user's
thumbs being utilized to pinch PDA 100 against the arched
forefinger(s), thus leaving only one of the user's thumb free to
enter and/or manipulate data via keypad 102. Accordingly, the user
typically severely arches their thumbs into an inconvenient and
uncomfortable position in order to operate PDA 100, thereby
exposing the user to possible discomfort. Furthermore, due to
keypad 102 being disposed below display screen 108, display screen
108 is rendered vulnerable to bright light sources such as the sun.
In situations where display screen 108 represents a backlit display
for example, such bright light shone on display screen 108 can
severely interfere with the user's viewing of information displayed
within display screen 108.
[0008] Therefore, a more user-friendly design, in particular, one
that improves thumb manipulability of the keypad is desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] A palm-sized handheld device includes a body casing having a
top end and a bottom end. In accordance with one embodiment of the
invention, the device also includes a display screen proximately
disposed near the bottom end of the device, and a plurality of
input keys proximately disposed near said top end of the device
above the input display screen.
[0010] As a result of such a configuration, accessibility to the
input keys by users' thumbs is improved while glare from a bright
light source on the display screen may be decreased.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0011] The present invention will be described by way of exemplary
embodiments, but not limitations, illustrated in the accompanying
drawings in which like references denote similar elements, and in
which:
[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates a typical prior art PDA;
[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates a PDA of the present invention
incorporated with a keypad disposed above the display, in
accordance with one embodiment;
[0014] FIG. 3 further illustrates PDA 200 of FIG. 2, incorporated
with the teachings of the present invention, in accordance with one
embodiment;
[0015] FIG. 4 illustrates a PDA incorporating various advantageous
aspects of the present invention, in accordance with a second
embodiment; and
[0016] FIGS. 5A-5E illustrate a PDA incorporating various
advantageous aspects of the present invention, in accordance with a
third embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0017] In the following description, various aspects of the present
invention will be described. However, it will be apparent to those
skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced with
only some or all aspects of the present invention. For purposes of
explanation, specific numbers, materials and configurations are set
forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present
invention. However, it will also be apparent to one skilled in the
art that the present invention may be practiced without the
specific details. In other instances, well known features are
omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the present
invention. The phrase "in one embodiment" will be used repeatedly,
however the phrase does not necessarily refer to the same
embodiment, although it may.
[0018] Referring now to FIG. 2, wherein a front view of a personal
digital assistant (PDA) 200, incorporated with the teachings of the
present invention in accordance with one embodiment, is shown. PDA
200 includes body casing 216 having a top end 218A, a bottom end
218B, a left side 219A, a right side 219B, display screen 208, left
key set 202A and right key set 202B. Except for the teachings of
the present invention, each of these elements is used to provide
the same functionality as the functionality provided by the
corresponding element of prior art PDA 100 described earlier, that
is for the input of numeric and/or alphanumeric data, for
displaying various graphical and/or alphanumeric messages, and so
forth. However, unlike prior art PDA 100 of FIG. 1, the keypad of
PDA 200 has been advantageously and ergonomically disposed near top
edge 218A above display screen 208 as well as divided into left key
set 202A and right key set 202B. Such an arrangement provides
convenient access to the data input keys without causing thumb
strain caused by prior art PDA configurations, and without causing
users' thumbs to interfere with viewing of the text and/or images
displayed on display screen 208. In one embodiment of the
invention, display screen 208 is rectangular in shape having a top
edge 208A, a bottom edge 208B disposed below top edge 208A, a left
side and a right side. In one embodiment, at least one of left key
set 202A and right key set 202B is disposed at an angle with
respect to at least one of bottom edge 208B and/or top edge 202A of
display screen 208. In one embodiment, at least one of left key set
202A and right key set 202B is disposed at approximately a
forty-five degree angle with respect to at least one of bottom edge
208B and/or top edge 202A of display screen 208.
[0019] Note that top end 218A and bottom end 21 BB (as well as top
edge 202A and bottom edge 208B) are objectively determined. A
device such as PDA 200 having display screen 208 necessarily has a
display orientation. For example, textual data are either rendered
from left to right and top to bottom, as denoted by arrows 220A and
220B respectively, as in the case of the English language, or right
to left and top to bottom, as denoted by arrows 222A and 222B
respectively, as in the case of the Hebrew language, or top to
bottom and right to left, as denoted by arrows 224A and 224B
respectively, as in the case of the Chinese language. Thus the
manner in which textual data are rendered defines which end is the
top end, and which end is the bottom end of PDA 200. Accordingly,
an element X of PDA 200 is necessarily above element Y of PDA 200
and element Y is necessarily below element X, if element X is
closer to the objectively determinable top end of PDA 200 or if
element Y is closer to the objectively determinable bottom end of
PDA 200.
[0020] As illustrated, display screen 208 represents a broad
category of display screens, such as a liquid crystal display
(LCD), to display text and/or graphical information such as status
information and input and output data the user may be interested in
viewing. For example, display screen 208 includes date and time
display 204 designed to inform a user of the current date and time,
as well as graphical icons 210-214 designed to provide a user with
expedited access to a variety of operating functions that PDA 200
may be equipped to perform.
[0021] Depending upon the particular implementation, PDA 200 may be
equipped to provide services including but not limited to
electronic mail services, text editing services, file storage
services, and calendaring services. For example, mail icon 210 may
represent an electronic mail function, which when selected,
provides a user with the ability to transmit and/or receive
electronic messages. Similarly, edit icon 211 may represent a text
editing function, which when selected, provides a user with the
ability to create and/or edit simple text messages. Likewise,
calendar icon 214 may represent various calendaring functions
available to a user. These and other functions described in the
context of PDA 200 are intended to be merely illustrative and
should not be read as limiting the present invention. Accordingly,
PDA 200 may represent a wide variety of devices that provide a
similarly wide variety of functionalities. For example, PDA 200 may
be implemented as a multi-function personal digital assistant, or
as a dedicated personal paging device, provided that one or more
data input keys and/or devices are disposed above display screen
208. In one embodiment, PDA 200 is approximately 3.5 inches in
length measured from left side 219A to right side 219B, and 2.5
inches in width measured from top end 218A to bottom end 218B.
[0022] Body casing 216 further includes finger mouse 205 as well as
left mouse button 203A and right mouse button 203B. In one
embodiment finger mouse 205 is ergonomically disposed near top end
218A so as to correspond to the natural arch of a user's index
finger when naturally grasping a device such as PDA 200. In FIG. 2,
finger mouse 205 is illustrated as being disposed above right key
set 202B, however finger mouse 205 or an additional finger mouse
may be disposed above left key set 202A. Furthermore, other user
input devices such as a track wheel and/or roller ball may be
utilized in addition to, or in place of finger mouse 205. However,
such a user input device is not required. In the illustrated
embodiment, left mouse button 203A is disposed above display screen
208 and at least partially below left key set 202A so as to provide
convenient access by one's left thumb, whereas right mouse button
203B is disposed above display screen 208 and at least partially
below right key set 202B so as to provide convenient access by
one's right thumb. In one embodiment, left mouse button 203A is
disposed above display screen 208 and at least partially between
left side 219A and left key set 202A, whereas right mouse button
203B is disposed above display screen 208 and at least partially
between right side 219B and right key set 202B.
[0023] Referring now to FIG. 3, wherein PDA 200 is further
illustrated as incorporating the teachings of the present
invention, in accordance with one embodiment. As described above
with respect to FIG. 2, PDA 200 of FIG. 3 includes display screen
208 disposed near bottom end 218B, below left mouse button 203A and
left key set 202A, as well as right mouse button 203B and right key
set 202B, which are both partially hidden by right hand 306. Right
hand 306 represents a user's right hand grasping PDA 200 in a
natural grasping position such that index finger 309 may be
utilized to manipulate finger mouse 205, and thumb 315 may be
utilized to manipulate right key set 202B, while at the same time
limiting the strain normally placed on right thumb 315 and/or right
hand 306 by keypad configurations of the prior art. At the same
time, the novel and advantageous configuration of PDA 200 likewise
facilitates natural and reduced-strain grasping of PDA 200 by a
user's left hand (not shown). Accordingly, finger mouse 205 may be
disposed near top edge 218A in a location more conducive for use
with a finger from a user's left hand. However, it should be noted
that the advantageous configuration of the present invention
facilitates single-hand usage of PDA 200, thereby freeing a user's
second hand for other tasks.
[0024] In addition to facilitating ergonomic use of PDA 200, the
novel arrangement of display screen 208 below left key set 202A and
right key set 202B further provides a user with the ability to
shield display screen 208 from glare caused by light source 330
without hindering use of PDA 200. For example, when PDA 200 is
grasped in a natural and comfortable manner such as is illustrated
in FIG. 3, right hand 306 (as well as a user's left hand)
necessarily tends to shield PDA 200 from light source 330 as
illustrated by shadow 307. Body casing configurations of the prior
art, however, include display screens that are disposed above the
keypad, leaving the display screen vulnerable to distracting glare.
It should be noted that the novel configuration of body casing 216
is such that even as thumb 307 and index finger 309 are used to
enter data via right key set 202B and finger mouse 205
respectively, right hand 306 (as well as a left hand) is
nonetheless continually positioned so as to block unwanted and
distracting light from light source 330.
[0025] FIG. 4 illustrates a PDA incorporating advantageous aspects
of the present invention, in accordance with a second embodiment.
PDA 400 is shown being grasped by right hand 306. PDA 400 is
similarly configured to PDA 200, however, PDA 400 includes left
finger mouse 405A in addition to right finger mouse 405B. Both left
finger mouse 405A and right finger mouse 405B may be activated
concurrently, or either may be selectively activated based upon
user preference. Additionally, PDA 400 includes body casing 416
having left key set 402A disposed near left side 419A and right key
set 402B disposed near right side 419B. Each of left key set 402A
and right key set 402B are arranged in two or more concentric
circles and/or arches. Depending upon implementation, left key set
402A may include all alphabetical characters, whereas right key set
402B may include all numeric and/or special characters. Similarly,
both left key set 402A and right key set 402B may include
alphanumeric characters that are organized in a variety of
positional relationships. Furthermore, left mouse button 403A is
formed in the shape of an oval rather than a triangle as
illustrated in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. It should be noted that data
input keys and mouse buttons of a variety of shapes and sizes may
similarly be utilized.
[0026] FIGS. 5A-E illustrate a PDA incorporating advantageous
aspects of the present invention, in accordance with a third
embodiment. PDA 500 includes upper body portion 550 having an outer
end 552 and an inner end 554. Upper body portion 550 further
includes left key set 502A and right key set 502B. PDA 500 also
includes lower body portion 551 having inner end 555 and outer end
553, as well as display 508. In one embodiment, upper body portion
550 and lower body portion 551 are pivotally coupled together by
hinges 542 and 544. It should be noted that a single hinge or
multiple hinges might also be used. Similarly, connection
mechanisms other than hinges may be used to allow movement of outer
end 552 towards and away from outer end 553 while inner ends 554
and 555 remain in a substantially fixed location relative to each
other. Such a hinged configuration not only provides advantageous
positioning of display screen 508 below the left and right key
sets, but also enables a user to close PDA 500 thereby shielding
display screen 508 from exposure to damage and dust for
example.
[0027] Thus, a palm-sized hendheld device having an ergonomic
inverted keyboard has been disclosed. In the foregoing
specification, the invention has been described with reference to
specific embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that
various modifications and changes can be made thereto without
departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. The
specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an
illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.
* * * * *